Painting with antique white linseed paint

Single coating paint for woodwork indoors

Single coating paint for plaster indoors

Treating brick flooring with wax and linseed oil

Brick floors are beautiful and tear resistant, and when treated with linseed oil and Ottosson’s linseed oil wax, they get even more durable and easier to clean.

Treating woodwork with linseed oil wax

Untreated wood gets dull over the years. In this video we show you how you easily bring back the shine to interior fittings, a treatment that also increases their resitstance to wear and tear.

Treating pine flooring with linseed oil glaze

In this video we show you how to treat an untreated wood floor with glaze in order to increase its life span.

Using the right brush improves the result

One of the secrets behind a good painting result is the use of the appropriate brush. Another advantage is that the work gets done faster and with more ease with a good brush.

Painting façades with linseed paint, using turpentine dilution

This video shows you how to paint a wooden façade with linseed oil paint, in this case diluted with gum turpentine, a treatment that will protect the wood. The end result is a semi-matt shine.

Painting façades with linseed paint, without using turpentine dilution

This video shows you how to paint a wooden façade with linseed oil paint, a treatment that will protect the wood. The end result is a semi-matt shine.

Repainting woodworks outdoors

This video shows you how to paint with linseed oil paint on painted woodwork outdoors. In this video, we paint an old cellar door and a put in a new windowpane.

Single coating paint for woodwork outdoors

Single coating paint for woodwork outdoors. This paint is used on untreated absorbing surfaces like sawn wood. The end result is a durable beautiful matt surface.

Using the right brush improves the result

This video shows you how to select the right brushes in order to achieve the best painting results.

Painting windows with linseed paint

The windows are some of the parts of our houses that are most exposed to the strains of the elements. Painting them with linseed oil is a classic treatment that provides an excellent protection and a beautiful result. If you have a window that is previously painted with synthetic window paint, you can continue to paint it with linseed oil paint with good results.

The video “Puttying and painting windows” shows you, step by step, how to treat windows with linseed oil paint in order to reach the best results, even if you have never used linseed oil on your windows before.

Using the right brush improves the result

This video shows you how to select the right brushes in order to achieve the best painting results.

For many years now, we have produced linseed oil paint minium as an anti-corrosive paint and received very good response from our customers.

The first time we read about minium was in the book Måleri (Painting) from the Craftsmanship Association. On page 37 in the second edition printed in 1934 you can read the following: ”Minium has very good coverage and is chemically neutral, which is why it is very well suited as an anti-corrosive paint. When used with oil, the minium also preserves wood.” This piece of information was the only one available to us when we started experimenting with producing an environmentally friendly alternative to the toxic red lead minium.

The pigment we use comes from Spain and is a clay earth pigment called hematite. The structure of the pigment makes it form a pattern like fish scales in the paint film. When mixed with linseed oil, it is very difficult for water to reach the underlying iron.

Graphite (lead) is traditionally a very commonly used pigment for painting metal outdoors. Graphite is not an anti-corrosive in itself; the iron must first be primed with minium. Graphite is mentioned in literature for the first time in 1604. It is a mineral modification of carbon with a metallic luster and is used for manufacturing pencils. Our graphite linseed oil paint has a slightly different consistency compared to our other paints, due to the characteristics of the pigment. Graphite easily smears onto other surfaces and therefore should not be used on chairs or seats.

Using the right brush improves the result

This video shows you how to select the right brushes in order to achieve the best painting results.

Maintenance of previously painted surface

Depending on exposure to sunlight, the linseed oil paint will eventually fade, something that will be visible on the south sides first. This is due to the linseed oil naturally degrading and does not need any immediate action. When the paint is completely matt, it gets ”chalky” ie it will smear when touched. Linseed oil paint does not flake off from the substrate.

The chalking can be a positive thing as the paint ”washes itself” as dirt and mould/algae erodes from the surface. However, this could entail negative practical consequenses with smearing outdoor furniture. We would like to point out that the degradation is only superficial and that linseed oil paint has close to eternal life span internally.

Maintenance with linseed oil and turpentine on coarse sawn surface
Clean the surface if needed. Mix equal amounts of raw linseed oil and turpentine and apply one thin layer. Check that the linseed oil has penetrated the surface and wipe off excess oil with a dry brush.

Linseed oil maintenance on smooth planed surfaces
Clean the surface and apply raw or boiled linseed oil in thin layers. Wipe off excess oil after half an hour and the paint has regained its original color and shine.

Repainting
When a surface painted with linseed oil is matt, you might think it is time to repaint. For sustainability reason, there is no need to repaint. Linseed oil paint outdoors have long durability with a matt appearence. There is no need to repaint for 8 to 15 years. Repainting is a matter of aesthetics rather than sustainability.

Special colour shades

The term special paint refers to paint types or colors outside of the standard range listed in our catalogue and in our web shop.

A linseed oil paint special color shade could be an NCS or RAL number or another general color code. It can also be based on your own specimen. The following is a common scenario when a special paint is made to order: Our customer would like a paint color to match their own specimen, an old paint chip, a picture or an item of a specific color.

Our knowledge of paint mixing enables us to make quick decisions on which bases we should use in order to reach the desired color. This mixing process can be likened to the way a chef seasons a casserole. We use our senses, the chef his palate, we use our eyes. We mix linseed oil paints and matt linseed oil paints. When you want to order a special paint, always contact your reseller or us via e-mail; info@ottossonfarg.com or telephone +46 40 482 574. Please specify if the paint will be used indoors or outdoors, the type of surface and area you will paint.

Our manufacturing process is true craftsmanship

When we produce linseed oil, we combine the two ingredients linseed oil and pigments. Understanding and assessing different pigments and their relationship to linseed oil calls for real craftsmanship. The pigments are like individuals and behave differently when mixed with linseed oil. Primarily, it is the mechanical processing that holds the highest significance.

We use various pipe mills and rolling mills to achieve optimal effect. Above all, we want to emphasize our three-roll mill. The method of “tearing” paint i.e. levigate pigments evenly in the linseed oil is mentioned in the literature as early as the 16th century. This was a manual process until the 1840s when they started using mechanical tearing on three-roll-mills. Some of our paints are torn in modern dissolver machines, but the natural pigments need the manual roll mills in order to work properly. The torn pigment paste is dissolved with more linseed oil until the paint has the right viscosity, resembling Turkish yoghurt. The balance between linseed oil and pigments is of utmost importance to its storage qualities. Linseed oil paint should be usable for many years, provided it is stored in properly sealed cans.

When we make new nuances from our standard paint colors, the starting point is always solely based on pigments and linseed oil. Different color bases are weighed and mixed to a new color. Copenhagen Green, for example, is a mix of the color bases iron oxide black, chrome oxide green, green umber, gold ochre, iron oxide yellow and a touch of zinc white. When we make special paints, we always base the color on the customer’s own specimen; an old paint chip or an item of a specific color. Our knowledge of paint mixing enables us to make quick decisions on which bases we should use in order to reach the desired color. Linseed oil has high density and the weight per liter varies between 1.5 and 2.2 kg depending on the pigment contents. The large pigment content gives the paint unsurpassed qualities when it comes to coverage and stretch capabilities.

Raw material; pigments and linseed oil
Pigments are chemically divided into organic and inorganic compounds. The organic pigments are based on hydrocarbons and the inorganic pigments are mainly based on metals and minerals. Inorganic pigments are generally more resilient to light and air than the organic ones and work better with linseed oil. Some examples of inorganic pigments are all clay earth pigments, iron oxides, zinc oxides, titanium oxides and cobalt.

We strive to use inorganic pigments in our paints and at the same time meet the market demands for variety in colors combined with environmentally friendly products. Lately, we have found modern inorganic pigments to replace the old vivid colors based on chromium, cadmium and lead pigments. These new pigments are based on other metal compounds that are more environmentally friendly.

You can rest assured that we never replace the natural ochre, umber and terra with iron oxide pigments in similar colors. Bone char (ivory black) is still based on animal bones and cobalt blue contains real cobalt pigments.

Our linseed oil is always extracted by cold press
Pressing the oil from the linseed without heating renders a smaller yield, but in return we get a cleaner and clearer product. The newly pressed linseed oil is called cold pressed raw linseed oil and is stored for at least six months before use. During storage, mucilage falls to the bottom and the clean oil can be tapped and used. The raw oil is extremely deep penetrating as its surface tension is lower than water. No preheating of the oil is needed which makes it suitable for priming outdoors.
This oil is also used for artist paints. The raw linseed oil dries relatively slowly. In the old days, the oil was heated to shorten the drying time. This process is commonly called boiling and the product is called coldpressed boiled linseed oil.
In the boiling process we use, the oil is heated to approximately 140 degrees C and in order to make it more reactive, oxygen and metal salts are added. This oil is a little thicker than the raw oil, but it still has very good adhesion and penetration abilities. This is the oil we use as binder in our paints.
We also refine the raw linseed oil by using a very old method in which we subject the oil to sunlight and oxygen outdoors for several months. In this process, the oil oxidizes, thickens and is bleached by the sunlight. This oil type is called sun thickened linseed oil and is added to the final coat of paint in order to enhance shine, fluidity and drying.

Linseed paint, environment and energy at Ottosson Färgmakeri

The past 20 years have been characterized by concerns for the environment. This has been to our advantage in many ways as linseed oil meets many of the criteria demanded of an environmentally friendly product.

Flax can be grown and does not deplete our resources. Linseed oil is bio-degradable without any harmful waste. Linseed oil paint can almost always be applied without the addition of solvents. It is said that if the paint is water-soluble, it is harmless. The term water-soluble is misleading as the paint is not based on water; it is just soluble in water. The water-soluble paint is based on entirely different chemical substances and what needs to be assessed is the affect these substances have on people and the environment.